


New Normal

by Karios



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Child Death, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Halloween, Movie Night, Post Rittenhouse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-27 16:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16222583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/pseuds/Karios
Summary: In a time after Rittenhouse is defeated, Lucy and Flynn spend Halloween together, surrounded by their ghosts.





	New Normal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flipflop_diva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts).



> Thanks to Rosefox for being an excellent beta and an even better friend.

The bell rings. “My turn,” Flynn says, snatching the bowl of candy off the coffee table. Lucy sits up and pauses the movie. A comedy, not exactly seasonally appropriate, but they'd agreed Rittenhouse had given them enough horrors for a lifetime. 

She's glad they chose a quiet night in. A midweek Halloween means school in the morning, though she's sorely tempted to cancel class—maybe she could spin it as a day to work independently on their term papers.

Flynn says goodnight to the trick-or-treaters. As he sets the bowl on the table, the bell rings again. Lucy hops up, stretches out a crick in her neck, and heads for the door. As she pulls it open, a sweet, almost-unified “Trick-or-treat!” erupts from a little witch, a pair of Power Rangers, and a black cat missing a whisker. "Great costumes,” she says, depositing candy in each of their bags. She gives a "you’re welcome" for each "thank you" and shuts the door again. 

Flynn is back on the couch, polishing off the last of the popcorn. “I'm up; trade me, and I’ll make more popcorn.” They swap bowls and Lucy heads for the kitchen, taking time to appreciate how utterly domestic and normal she feels as she slings the bag into the microwave. 

They aren't who they were before, not with everything they've lost, but...

The doorbell rings, pulling her away from darker thoughts just in time to grab the popcorn. She's debating between savory and sweet seasoning options when Flynn's grip slacks on the candy bowl. It hits the floor with enough force to shatter, sending Kit Kats, Reese's, and Starbursts skittering across the floor and the children fleeing for their lives. 

Flynn is staring out into the night air, jaw clenched tight, hands still held out for the bowl, and mind far away. Lucy is at his side in an instant, carefully stepping around the shards of bowl to ground him with a firm hug. After a moment he comes back to her with a shiver, and Lucy leads him back to the couch.

“You shouldn't do that,” he says, his voice distant as though he were still dragging it back across time and space.

“It works, doesn't it?”

“I could hurt you.”

Lucy shakes her head. “You never could.” 

He reaches for the remote. She stops him, hand over his.

“What happened?”

“I broke your bowl,” he says, just now realizing.

“Before that.”

It takes him a moment. “One of the little girls in that last group was dressed as an angel.”

Lucy winces. She'd never thought about how that might sting.

“I think it was the wings. Those stupid cardboard wings. Iris—” He catches on her name and swallows hard. “She was a butterfly that last Halloween. My wife spent days shaping wire, draping fabric, painting on each dot and line. I said we could just buy some.”

He can still hear Lorena's admonishment. _She deserves these. She won't be young forever, Garcia._

Except now she will.

“They should be here!” His voice booms forth, echoing in the otherwise quiet living room.

“Yes,” Lucy says. “Of course they should.” 

She knows him well enough to see the signs he needs a minute, so she slips off the couch, gathering spilled candy into a new bowl. Flynn joins her, sweeping up the broken glass. 

“I'm sorry,” he says as the shards of bowl hit the garbage.

“Another casualty of Rittenhouse,” she teases.

He smiles, but it's as hollow as the jack-o'-lanterns outside.

Next year, she'll put up a sign and go to bed early. What's the point of Halloween when every day is haunted?


End file.
